the u.s. soldier left the forward operating base, went into the neighboring village and opened fire on innocent civilians. we're saddened by this act. our thoughts and prayers are

with the families and this aentire community. >> a u.s. soldier goes on a shooting rampage killing 16 afghan villagers including women and children. he hello, i'm bruce johnson. thanks for joining us. that american soldier turned himself in. he's under arrest tonight and the anger at his actions is coming from every front. the attacks reportedly took place in a village near a u.s. base in kandahar. a u.s. spokesperson says the suspect is an army staff sergeant who apparently acted alone. he returned to his base in kandahar after the it shooting. tonight president barack obama is calling the attack tragic and shocking. he's also vowing to get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible. afghan president hamid karzai calls the incident an assassination of innocent civilians that cannot be forgiven. susan mcginnis reports tonight the shooting is almost certain to spark a new round of anti- american protests. >> reporter: victims were

covered with blankets in the back of a truck as villagers examined one of three homes attacked. witnesses say an american soldier opened fire in two villages killing 16 people including nine children and three women. several others were wounded not far from a u.s. base in southern afghanistan. >> u.s. forces are providing the highest level of care for those injured. we are still attempting to ascertain the facts. >> reporter: cbs news has learned the suspect, from fort lewis, washington, was on his first tour of after been stan but had served a couple of prior tours in iraq. afghan president hamid karzai called it an assassination and says the shooting cannot be forgiven. president obama phoned karzai to offer condolences and express his shock and sadness. nato is working with local villagers to help understand what happened. >> what's the motivation of the perpetrator? it has to be found out in the investigation. >> reporter: the shooting could not have come at a more

sensitive time for u.s.-afghan relations. tensions were just starting to ease following the accidental burning of muslim holy books last month. that incident sparked weeks of widespread anti-american protests across afghanistan that left dozens dead including six u.s. service members. there's concern now this latest event could trigger new protests and more blood shed. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. maryland governor martin o'malley and virginia governor bob mcdonnell had these reactions on "meet the press." >> it's most tragic because we have so many men and women in the forces that have done marvelous work and doing good work, and yet one incident like this in the minds of the civilian population when we're trying to win their hearts and minds as well as the battle against the terrorists can change it significantly.

>> this underscores how important it is to conclude our involvement in afghanistan as we have in iraq. i agree with governor mcdonald. there's so many young men and women that are seven sog well, but incidents like this do happen in war zones. it's very important we bring our troops home as soon as possible. >> and the name of the u.s. soldier uncustody has not yet been released. closer to home, some frightening moments today inside an i-hop restaurant located in columbia heights in northwest where a customer was shot in the chest. tonight the search is on for the gunman. matt jablow has the story. >> reporter: the i-hop restaurant on 14th street in northwest is normally open 24 hours day but this morning it was closed for several hours after a customer was shot inside the restaurant. >> i think it's horrible. >> reporter: according to police, it all began around 6:30 this morning when several customers here got into an argument. >> i guess it happens everyplace. >> reporter: police say it ended with one of the customers

shooting another customer. an unidentified man who was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound in the chest. >> does that concern you as a neighborhood resident? >> yes. >> reporter: residents as well as customers at the ihop were understandably disturbed. >> it's a neighborhood in change but you still have a lot of have's and have-not's, let's face it, and there's a lot of tension. >> i would be concerned about shootings around the neighborhood. >> reporter: tonight police are looking for two people of interest. the first is an african- american man with dread locks about 6' 1", 165 pounds who was wearing green pants. police say he was seen leaving the i-hop with a light-skinned african-american woman with a heavy build. if you have any information about who those people are or where they are, you are asked to call d.c. police at 202-727-

9099. the georgetown hoyas are the lonl local team going to the ncaa tournament. the selections were made earlier here on channel 9. dave owens is here with the story. >> the hoyas knew they were going to the tournament but where and what seed were the questions. some last day jostling going on in other conferences possibly playing a role. the selection show came on at 6:00, and it took nearly 40 minutes for georgetown to find out where they were headed. that was the scene on campus this evening after their name was called and they found out the opponent. georgetown is heading to columbus, ohio as the 3-seed to face the belmont bruins, winners of the atlantic sun conference. big east coaches predicted they would finish 10th in the league before the season began. i guess they didn't know much. >> we've only been there four times, in your lifetime. >> if you're lucky. >> if you're lucky.

everybody doesn't get in the tournament, unfortunately. >> i think we've overcame a lot of obstacles to get to this point. a 3-seed is well deserved. >> i was almost looking to see who we were paired up against more so than waiting to hear our name, because it's the big match-ups that are important. we play a very difficult belmont team. >> who exactly is that belmont bruins team and who else poses a threat in the midwest bracket, and can the hoyas make a run? we've got a stable of experts here to talk about that and the rest of the tournament. we'll do that, bruce, during sports plus coming up in a couple of minutes. >> looking forward to it, dave. the race to the republican nomination for president has moved into the deep south. the candidates are gearing up for crucial primaries tuesday in mississippi and alabama, while mitt romney continues to lead rick santorum says' making strides and feels confident key go ahead of romney, key win if newt gingrich gets out of the way. of course, newt gingrich says

he's not leaving. >> we think that folks in mississippi and alabama are going to vote for the conservative who represents their values that can present the best contrast with president obama. >> we are going to get a lot of keel gats in both mississippi and alabama, and i think the odds are pretty good that we'll win them. >> romney did not campaign this weekend. he will join the others back on the trail on monday. saturday romney won the wyoming caucuses. romney now has 545 delegates. that's twice as many as santorum, gingrich, and ron paul combined, but it's still a long way from the 1144 needed to win the republican nomination. it was a year ago today when police arrived in an up- scale bethesda store to find one young woman hog tied and another bludgeoned to death. arrest man do you trial has the details. >> reporter: (s:reporter hugh murray made a bittersweet

appearance as bethesda's lululemon store where his coworker was beaten to death one year ago. >> my wife and i decided to come up to d.c., and we ran in a race, the st. patrick's day 8k down in d.c., just to kind of commemorate an activity that jana enjoyed. >> jana's parents were too upset to come but they september this arrangement. >> my parents and my brother and family stayed in the houston area, had a service there. >> reporter: some of jana's friends brought flowers, too. >> i want people to see that she loved who she was, loved who she symbolized. >> reporter: the small gathering was meant to honor the young woman. >> everybody in there was full of life and celebrating jana's life. >> reporter: coworker brittany norwood was convicted of

murdering jana and trying to cover up the fact by claiming the pair had been sexually assaulted by two masked men. >> all of the events are so etched in our minds, you started to overlook that, and that's important because with pain comes release. >> reporter: folks who placed these beautiful orchids and balloons and flowers say they did it to honor the beautiful life. in bethesda, arrest man do you trial, 9news now. >> brittany norwood is serving a life sentence for murdering jana murray. a university of maryland- college park student is under arrest after allegedly be on a, quote, shooting rampage. police arrested song and charged him with disturbing the

orderly conduct or classes at have the university. he was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation. a house fire in charles county sends one. the fire broke out just after 7:00 tonight. firefighters from prince george's, st. mary's, and prince charles were all called in to battle the blaze. no word yet on the victim's condition. an update on a report you first heard here on 9news now. a local priest who denied communion to a lesbian at her mother's funeral that priest has reportedly been placed on administrative leave. in a statement today, the. he has been relieved of his duties until an inquiry is completed. johnson's family has issued a statement saying they hope the church's actions will ensure others won't suffer with this

treatment. still to come, a somber anniversary in japan this weekend. it's the one-year anniversary of that devastating earthquake and tsunami. also, get this, a thief makes off with dozens of boxes of girl scout cookies. we'll have that story. and as you're heading out the door for your monday morning, not as cold, as temperatures only get down into the 40s. will you need just a light jacket, then get ready for the warmer air to come this way. also talking about the chance for some showers. your forecast coming up a little later when 9news now returns.

today marks the one-year anniversary of that devastating earthquake and tsunami in japan. across japan sirens wailed at the exact time of the quake. 33 minutes later bells tolled to mark the time the tsunami struck, wapping out dozens of villages and sweeping away thousands of people at the site of the fukushima nuclear plant relatives wore protective suits to pay tribute to the people who perished during a meltdown

of the reactor. a year later many communities have yet to rebuild. some local boy scouts continued their efforts to help victims of japan's earthquake and tsunami. troop 964 hosted its 14th annual model train show. all proceeds from the show are being donated to a brother troop in japan. >> we have joined up with them as a brother troop, and all the proceeds from this show is going to go to that troop so that they can rebuild. the men at troop 2 told us that their history ended a year ago with the tsunami, but their future starts today with troop 964. >> good for them. some 160 local scouts will also earn their railroading merit badges as a result of those workshops at the model train show. the crime in bloomington, illinois has baffled police. police say somebody stole more than 60 boxes of girl scout

cookies from a family's van that's about $260 worth. mark had ledded the cookies into the van so his nine-year- old daughter could start her deliveries. >> they could have taken anything, but to know that they stole 66 boxes of girl scout cookies, and my daughter was just a mess, too. it was heart break. >> if you see somebody selling cookies at a grocery store and they don't quit look like the girl scout type, then perhaps that might be something we need to know about. >> police have recovered 46 of those stolen cookie boxes. a few blocks from the home. they are still looking for the rest of the missing loot. today's beautiful weather provided a great backdrop for outdoor activities like taking a walk, even ice skating. we caught up with skaters who were eager to take to the.

>> i haven't skated in about two years now and i can he sided, why not try it out. so i went back home, grabbed my skates and came back. unfortunately half the rink is meld because of the sun, but the other half is perfect. >> it's between baltimore and the nation's capital. still to come on 9news now this sunday night, you got it, the sights and sounds of the st. patrick's day parade. we're going to take you there. will the warm sunday give way to an even warmer week ahead? anny's forecast when we come back.

washington's 41st annual st. patrick's day parade got underway along constitution avenue today. great day for a parade. thousands of people took advantage of today's sunny weather. local restaurant owner armstrong served as the grand marshall. the purpose of the parade is to celebrate irish culture.

there's a new mrs -- and we underscore mrs -- d.c. america. she got a bachelor's degree from the university of maryland. her platform is to promote marriage. she goes on to compete in the national mrs. america contest. >> congratulations. >> i predict you are going to be eligible for that one day. >> one day, maybe. great weather today. >> if you like the warmth, bruce, you are going to like the seven-day forecast. we are going feel that warmth. actually even overnight into tomorrow morning with temperatures getting down into the 40s. here's a look at wisconsin avenue. it's a quiet sunday night. temperature 52 degrees. partly cloudy skies. and we're not going to be as cold tomorrow morning. now, here's a look at why.

just down to the 50s in leesburg, 50 in winchester. so it is going to be a fairly mild night. in fact, the warmth is going to be felt all over the east coast and into the mid-atlantic where we could maybe even break some records into parts of the northeast. i don't think here in d.c. for tomorrow, but you can see even in indianapolis upper 50s, chicago 60. the warm air just feeding in. we do have some areas of severe weather impacting the gulf states into parts of new orleans and into arkansas, where we do see -- could see some severe thunderstorms as a possibility. in the mid atlantic, high pressure, a southerly flow around it. south winds really bumping up those temperatures come tomorrow, tuesday, and wednesday. as you are going to the bus stop, not as cold to start the monday. so just a light jacket needed. then warm for the afternoon. becoming mostly cloudy. we could have a late shower

possible for monday night. i think in general the evening commute should be fine. get ready for the warm did you know. 70s on the way. you are going to like that seven-day forecast if you like the warmth. we start out sunny tomorrow morning. just a few clouds out there. it will be dry, then increasing clouds coming in from the west for the afternoon, becoming mostly cloudy again at night some showers are possible overnight as well. tuesday morning we should be getting a but -- we should be getting a front come through and the pattern sets up for the middle of the week. overnight, maybe just a one- blanket night as lows get down to the 40s. monday morning, not as cold, you will just need a light coat. temperatures starting in the 40s. the afternoon, it's going to

look great, but it's going to feel warm out there. always late shower possible, general. check out our sunset. 7:13 thanks to the start of daylight-saving time. all right so western maryland and come bear lapped, you're warming hagerstown 63, winchester mid-60s. warrenton also getting up to 66 degrees. around downtown, a little warmer at 68. gaithersburg 67. annapolis 69. pax river getting close to 70 degrees. so it's going to be a pretty warm day. now, close around town and in the beltway, upper 60s in downtown, 70 in arlington and springfield 69 degrees. just a chilly start, not even. highs popping up 65 to 70 degrees. next seven days, the warmth

tuesday, mid-70s, but afternoon showers and thunderstorms possible. look at wednesday, thursday, still in the mid to upper 70s. thursday some places getting close to 80 degrees, bruce. we should be in the mid-50s. looks like for st. patrick's day it's looking for unsettled for the weekend but still on the mild side in the lower 70s. so you allergy suffererrers this is not good news, including myself. >> same here. >> but enjoy. >> 80 degrees. 80 is 80. i like it. about 90 people auditioned to sing the national anthem during the upcoming nationals hope games. these are the hopefuls who had 90 seconds to wow the judges. ♪ oh say can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the

twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars -- >> they're great, all of them. back in a moment with sports plus. whatcha lookin' for hon?

ah, these new jeans i want. i've been looking everywhere. new blue jeans? oh, don't be crazy, i've got tons of blue jeans. frank! frank! get my jean bin, susie wants my jeans. no she doesn't. here we go. nice and loose. ohhh. those are loose, but i actually just ordered three pairs of this kind. ooooohhhh. oh. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay.

couldn't believe seth davis. it he predicted that georgetown would be upset by belmont. >> really. >> on national television. the nerve of this guy.

>> we saw georgetown get knocked out early last year but this is a team that's been feisty all season. they've proven a lot of people wrong. the georgetown hoyas lost the regular season finale to marquette only to be knocked out after two games, so it was only fitting that they had to wait 45 minutes today to hear their name called, but it was worth it. the hoyas got the 3-seed in the midwest region. they will head to columbus to face the belmont bruins. >> it's exciting to be here with our fans. >> always get nervous watching. it just feels like i'm about to go out and play game, but it's always a relief to get that name called. >> also coming up on the plus, steve berkowitz from usa today will join me in studio. we'll break down the rest of the local teams, vcu, virginia, and loyola.

the redskins give twowp first- round picks to secure the number two pick in the draft and get a shot at robert griffin iii. redskins beat writer grant paulsen here to talk about whether the blockbuster trade was a good move. plus the capitals showing some resilience making a push for the post-season, and geo gonzales continues to impress. he's yet to give up a hit all spring but they were down near miami, and he's from hi a -- hialeah. >> nats look good. >> get ready for the warmth. >> sports plus is next. we'll see you. have a great week, everybody. bye. people! look at you!

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